Both of the boys had their own advent calendars this year. And they both consisted of building things with Legos. Adam’s Star Wars themed (hard to believe, right?) calendar was a collection of characters and assorted ships and stuff from the movie…

The month culminates in this little Darth Vader Santa character on Dec 24…

Alex’s calendar was made by our neighbor and consisted in these clothespins that held individually wrapped packages.

Each package contained pieces of a Lego Christmas Train and each day, Alex would open one of the packages and slowly put the train together. On Christmas day, he opened the last package, which were the stockings that go in the little wagon being pulled by the train…

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,[a] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-11 (NKJV)

Big surprise! We went to Disney World. Again! 😉 This is the last week of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and the last remnant of the boys’ sixth birthday celebration!

First order of business: Disney Hollywood Studios, where we found the day had a decidedly Star Wars focus. Why are the boys smiling? They just finished the Star Tours ride and are sitting atop a “speeder bike”.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was an epic battle with Darth Maul.

Adam was ecstatic, and grinning from ear-to-ear the entire time!

As for Alex, he was worried, yet determined…

and in the end, his courage shines through…

Adam, on the other hand, was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force…

Oh, and then we went to the Christmas Party, which was a lot of waiting and crowding, lights and fireworks,

Sitting on the curb and waving…

and Santa!

Seriously, though, it was a great night, and I didn’t have to ride on “It’s a Small World”!

And although they’re twins, they each enjoy their own individual birthday, so as has become a tradition (for Mom), they each get to enjoy their own individual birthday cake. Naturally, the cake is made of cupcakes and shaped into a number representing their achievement in aging…

The boys were surprised by a visit from Auntie Diane, Auntie GiGi, and Uncle Bob, who also brought PRESENTS!!

So, everyone enjoyed their cake! Obviously, Alex enjoyed his more than everyone else…

I wonder what Voltaire would think of Adam? If I had to make a conservative quess, I’d say that 90% of the words he utters come in the form of questions. I don’t think I’ve every encountered anyone that talks as much as he does (not even his Mom).

I remember one especially exasperating day, our conversation went something like this:

Me: Adam, please just stop talking.

Adam: Why?

Me: Because you’ve been talking nonstop for four hours.

Adam: What’s ‘four hours’ mean?

Me: It’s the length of time you’ve been talking.

Adam: Is it like a day?

Me: No, it’s only part of a day.

Adam: What’s ‘part of a day’ mean?

Me: One day has twenty-four hours, you’ve been talking nonstop for four hours, that’s one-sixth of a day.